Product Consistency
I was at The Continental in Mid-Town Philadelphia on Friday night and ordered a Martini on the rocks. When I ordered it at the downstairs bar, it was put in a 6 oz glass and I was fairly disappointed with what I received for the price point. Heading to the upstairs bar, I ordered the same drink again and got the same 6oz glass but this time I got a shaker with more in it. The product inconsistency spoke volumes to me about the training of the staff at The Continental. Product Consistency is a theme that Restaurants live and die by and go in circles trying to achieve. From pouring a drink to food cooking and from taking an order to serving the food- it all comes down to being consistent with what management wants.
Product Consistency is not something that just the hospitality industry struggles with, it is prevalent in almost every industry. In the technology arena, the goal is to get consistency in coding style, naming conventions, code quality and performance. Inconsistency will cause site crashes, poor performance and constant refactoring (rewriting) of code. This may or may not impact a product like it does in the hospitality industry but it certainly can be counter-productive. In the product management and user interface design world, the goal is to be consistent in design, interface, usability and functionality. Dr. Michael Maddox, a senior scientist at HumanCentric Technologies, simply put it as- ‘If you can’t get it right, at least be consistent.’. You can read his opinion here. There is a fine line with regards to consistency as pointed out here. While I agree with the argument, I believe the title is misleading. Consistency in a product or design does not necessarily mean you want to conform with others (though it may make sense in some cases). I believe consistency within your product offering that is more important.